Breaking Rules Day Five: Write Words, Write Words, Write Words

It’s the second day of NaNoWriMo month—the annual event that’s supposed to help novelists all over the world to overcome their compulsion to over-edit. The event requires you to produce a 50,000-word book in just a month. It breaks the task down to 1,600 words a day and demands you to produce that count no matter how awful your writing is that day. The process addresses two common causes of writer’s block: A compulsion to over-edit and an unwillingness to write unless you’re inspired.

During NaNoWriMo month, you’re not supposed to worry too much about quality. You’re just supposed to get the words down, however they come. The hypothesis is that you can always go back and edit. You can’t always push out 50,000 words, so NaNoWriMo is for writers who are crippled by writer’s block or too much caution. It’s an excellent tool for some people and a terrible tool for others.

Yesterday I told one workshop member to spend more time on his work, and I told another to spend less. I’m not a hypocrite, I swear. This is one of those rules that changes depending on your current state of mind. If you’re not careless enough, write more words more thoughtlessly. If you’re too careless, write fewer words more cautiously. The only rule here is find your balance. Address your weaknesses, however they present themselves at the time. I have to adjust my carelessness almost every day because I’m a new kind of writer every time I wake up.

Sometimes I have a clear head. Sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I can produce a worthwhile piece in five minutes. Sometimes I can’t. Sometimes I’m too careless. Sometimes I’m too careful, so every day, I sit down at my keyboard and ask, “What kind of writer am I today?” I write new rules for that kind of writer on a daily basis, so just because I’m telling you to be more careful and methodical today, doesn’t mean I’ll suggest it to you next month.

It's not a rule. Nor is NaNoWriMo. The only appropriate rule is know yourself. Know how many kinds of writers you have in your body. Know how to adapt your writing habits to every one of them. Understand their weaknesses. Learn how to compensate for them. If we were our best writerly selves every day, we’d be making a killing, and yet here we are, torturing ourselves over our lack of inspiration.

Is NaNoWriMo right for you? It depends. If you’re lazy with the quantity of words you produce, it might help you. If you’re lazy with the quality of those words, NaNoWriMo might just encourage bad behaviours that are already too instilled in you.